The Statue had been noticed, and this made It happy. However, the Princess still regarded It with a look of...not disgust, perhaps, but disdain. The Statue knew It was an eyesore amongst the Princess' cadre of renowned, shiny Statues. However, it was determined to make Its mark nonetheless. The Statue sought out the help of the Metallurgist, who thought furiously. "...the only thing I can think of," he remarked, "is to have her acknowledge your strength. Your body is surprisingly strong, perhaps the strongest out of all the pure statues!" Despite being stronger, other metals would not be allowed within the Princess' retinue, for metallic purity was of the utmost importance. Because of this, one might say the Princess' retinue was rather...paper thin, in terms of defense.

A duel was out of the question. Not only was the difference in their status to great, the Golden Statue was too valuable for something as petty as a personal duel. The King would never sanction it. But no one was stupid enough to attack the Golden Princess, either. One day, while serving tea, the Bronze Statue overheard the Princess talking to the golden statue: "Mr. Gold, you're skilled in textiles, correct? I would like a golden shawl. Of the finest make and quality. I want you to make it." The Golden Statue's head tilted slightly as it pondered this."Me? Make this? Why? I'm all you need." As if reading his thoughts, the Princess nodded.

"Of course, but the other princesses look down on me recently. I need to display my power, and nothing but this shall suffice." The Bronze Statue stopped pouring tea for a moment, Its metallic eyes turning to regard the princess. "Mm? What are you looking at, you dull thing?" she spat at It. The harsh voice shook It from Its stupor. Finishing Its tasks, the Statue reported back to the Metallurgist what the Princess had said. The Metallurgist leapt up and cried out with joy. "That's it!" he shouted in delight.

The Bronze Statue was confused, Its head slightly tilting. "You're gonna be the one to make her that shawl. I will bring this up with the King at once!" The Metallurgist left in a frenzy, requesting audience with the King. Upon hearing his thoughts, the King grunted in thought. "This statue, it certainly is fixated on my daughter. You believe this will allow it to be fixed?" The Metallurgist nodded enthusiastically. "Can it even make textiles? It's a peasant statue. What can it do?" The Metallurgist leaned forward, eyes sparkling. "It can learn, your majesty. It is of close relation with the Alloyed Statues, the artisans of the palace. I can work with the Royal Seamstress to train and ensure our Statue can deliver a shawl of the finest quality!"

Stolen novel; please report.

The King frowned. "And for what? The Golden Statue can do everything the Bronze Statue can, and far better at that." The Metallurgist waggled a finger at him. "No, it won't. I can prove it, if you give me this chance. This is vital for fixing one of our precious Statues!" The King sighed. "I will agree to it then. We shall make this into a contest, with the winner being acknowledged by the Princess. The loser....hmm..." The King pondered. "What happens is up to the Princess." He declared. The Metallurgist bowed deeply, thanking the King for his consideration.

====

"What? What nonsense is this!" The Princess' voice rose an octave higher. "You can't seriously believe that a mere Bronze Statue could possibly surpass Mr. Gold!" The King patted her shoulder, gently reassuring her. "It's for the good of the Kingdom. That Statue is not right, and we need to do this to fix it. You can decide what happens to the loser, you know?"

"I want him out of my retinue," The Princess shot back. "Whoever loses will have to leave my retinue!" Of course, the Princess was certain Mr. Gold would win. The Golden Statue was the pinnacle of perfection. It would never lose to a mere peasant Statue.

As for what the two Statues were doing, their missions couldn't have been any more difficult. The Golden Statue was busy sewing mindlessly, while gazing at Itself in the Mirror. Perfection. I am the true King of Beauty. It thought, lost in its thoughts of it's own grandeur. It was already perfect. Nothing could go wrong. And even this stupid, inferior product, would be perfect. But of course, not as perfect as him.

Mr. Gold would never allow such a thing to exist.

=====

The Bronze Statue, was busy listening to the Royal Seamstress as she showed him various ways of knitting and stitching. It absorbed this information and mimicked her movements, Its rather slow movements slowly quickening as they got used to the unfamiliar movements. "Yes, just like that. And if you can fold it like this..." The Bronze Statue was learning, and practicing. The deadline for their shawl was in two weeks. For Mr. Gold, it would be done with Its perfect item by the end of the night. For the Bronze Statue, it would practice in the days to come, until it too, knew the true meaning of perfection. In this way, their resolve and will was put to the test.

And at last, after two weeks, the fabled moment had come. The Golden Statue and Bronze Statue both independently made their way to the throne room, their created shawls in hand. The judge would be the Princess and the King, as well as the Prime Minister. These three would determine what would happen to one of these Statues.